27 June 2010

Is the brainstem depicted in a Sistine Chapel fresco??

Michelangelo was a conscientious student of human anatomy and enthusiastically dissected corpses throughout his life, but few of his anatomical drawings survive. This one, a depiction of the human brain and brain stem, appears to be drawn on the neck of God, but not all art historians can see it there...

To me it looks more like a depiction of a thyroid cartilage, larynx, and upper trachea - but I suppose this is in "the eye of the beholder." Further discussion at the New York Times. Original source at Neurosurgery 66: 851-861, 2010.

4 comments:

This seems like an incredible stretch. The lines drawn by the overlay on the bottom don't even correspond to the offered illustration in the upper right. You can see Jesus in your toast or clouds if you look hard enough, but I just see bunnies.

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